A fan of Elliott Smith has discovered an unsent letter that he wrote to her, over two decades after his death.
The letter was written in response to a piece of fan mail, which was written by a then-teenage girl called Kirby Van Amburgh from Dallas. She wrote the letter in 2000, three years before Smith died, aged 34, after suffering two stab wounds to the chest.
Now named Kirby Rock, the fan has written a new essay for The Huffington Post, explaining that while she thought that Smith never received the letter, she has recently discovered that he not only saw it, but also penned a moving response that went unsent.
She found out about Smith’s letter after a journalist named Jamie Fisher reached out, saying that they were working on an Elliott Smith biography called Nobody Broke Your Heart, and had stumbled upon both Kirby’s letter and a response penned by the musician.
In her original letter, she told Smith that she found his music “really addictive” and added: “It’s so original and creative. I’ve never heard anything like it”. She also told the musician that he was the reason why she inspired her to be a writer, and “worth the time it took to write this, and you’ll keep kicking ass”.
After receiving an email from Fisher, she found that Smith wrote a letter in response that said: “Dear Kirby, I read your letter and it made me happy–thanks. I’m glad you see creativity in yourself, the world needs as much of it as it can get, so go out and kick ass!” He also signed the note with a heart.
In her essay for The Huffington Post, Kirby shared why she was so moved by Smith’s music and said that finding out about the response has led to her rejoining rejoin the writing group she left three years ago.
“But what really mesmerised me most about Elliott was his vulnerability. He laid himself so bare in his music, and when I listened to his songs, it felt like reading a diary,” she wrote. “It wasn’t just the lyrics – it was his soft singing style, his careful finger-picking, the way he layered vocal tracks so tenderly. I felt like I knew him, like I was a friend he trusted with his secrets.”
She continued: “After my call with Jamie, I felt a surge of inspiration. Since having my daughter three years earlier, I had stopped going to my writing group, and I hadn’t written a song or even played my instruments in a long time. But now I felt the urge to return to my writing and music, even if for no other purpose than bringing me joy.”
The Nobody Broke Your Heart biography was released in June and is available now. As well as sharing the book, Fisher has also organised a concert in Smith’s Brooklyn hometown, which features performances from artists who knew or were inspired by the singer.
Those on the line-up include Half Waif, Tsunami’s Jenny Toomey, Greg Mendez, Ida, and more, and proceeds will be donated to musicians’ mental health charity SIMS Foundation and homelessness charity WIN. Visit here for tickets and more information.
As for other Elliott Smith news, in 2023 – 20 years after his death –six of his albums that he recorded in high school (between 1985 and 1989) surfaced online, and his pre-solo band Heatmiser announced a rarities compilation.
Before then, Bright Eyes covered his song ‘St. Ides Heaven’ in 2022 as part of a special reissue of their 1998 album ‘Letting Off The Happiness’, and Smith’s self-titled second album was reissued to mark its 25th anniversary.
Earlier in 2026, it was confirmed that he has an asteroid named after him.
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